The 50
most miserable cities in America
·
The
most miserable city in the US is Gary, Indiana.
·
·
The
state with the most miserable cities is California with 10.
·
·
New
Jersey is close behind with nine, and Florida comes in third with six.
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These
cities have things in common — few opportunities, devastation from natural
disasters, high crime and addiction rates, and often many abandoned houses.
Not the worst, just the most
miserable.
We've identified the 50 most
miserable cities in the US, using census data from 1,000 cities across the
country, taking into consideration population change (because if people are
leaving it's usually for a good reason), the percentage of people working,
median household incomes, the percentage of people without healthcare, median
commute times, and the number of people living in poverty.
Often, these cities have been
devastated by natural disasters. They've had to deal with blight, and with high
crime rates. Economies have struggled after industry has collapsed. These
cities also tend to have high rates of addiction.
The state with the most miserable
cities was California, with 10 in the top 50. New Jersey was second with nine,
and Florida had six.
Here are the 50 most miserable cities in the US, based on US census data.
50. Lancaster, California
Wikimedia
49. St Louis, Missouri
Colter
Peterson / St Louis Post-Dispatch / TNS / Getty
St. Louis has almost 303,000
people, but it lost 5% between 2010 and 2018. Sixty-five percent of people work
and one quarter are living in poverty.
48. Pasadena, Texas
Chris
Graythen / Getty
Pasadena has 153,000 people, 65%
of whom are working, and one-fifth live in poverty. While the median income is
$50,207, nearly 29% of people don't have health insurance.
Mostly working-class , the city is based near petrochemical plants, and is
known for its race issues . It used to be home to the Texas headquarters of the Ku Klux
Klan. Now, it's divided. In the north it's primarily made up of Latino people
and to the south it's mostly white people.
47. Macon-Bibb County, Georgia
Grant
Blankenship / Macon Telegraph / MCT / Getty
Macon-Bibb County has 153,000
people, but it lost 1.7% of its population between 2010 and 2018. Fifty-six
percent are working, and 26% live in poverty.
One of Macon-Bibb County's
biggest problems is blight. Across the city there are about 3,700 unoccupied buildings , including dilapidated homes and overgrown yards.
46. Danville, Virginia
Michael
Williamson / The Washington Post / Getty
Danville has 40,000 people, but
its population fell by 5.5% between 2010 and 2018. Fifty-five percent of people
are working and 21% live in poverty.
It used to be one of the richest cities in the Piedmont
area . But it's struggled since its
tobacco and textile mills shut down. However, the city is fighting for a
comeback. It's set up solar farms, and its downtown is in the midst of a rehabilitation to turn abandoned warehouses into mixed-use developments.
45. Shreveport, Louisiana
Deputy
Josh Cagle / Bossier Sheriff's Office / Handout / Reuters
Shreveport has about 189,000
people, and lost nearly 6% of its population between 2010 and 2018. Fifty-eight
percent of people work, and 26% are living in poverty.
44. Hemet, California
Gina
Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times / Getty
Hemet has a population of 85,000
people and between 2010 and 2018, it grew by 8.5%. However, it's struggled
since the 2008 recession. Twenty-three percent of people live in poverty, and
crime rates are high. In 2016, 623 cars were stolen, 170 robberies were
reported, and police logged 398 aggravated assaults — the most this century .
43. Mansfield, Ohio
Eric
Thayer / Reuters
Mansfield has 46,000 residents,
but lost 2.7% between 2010 and 2018. Forty-eight percent of people are working,
and 24% are living in poverty.
It used to have lots of
industrial work, with people making things like steel, machinery, and stoves,
but that dried up in the 1970s and 1980s. More recently, in 2010, a GM factory closed its doors , leading to more job losses. It's also had a surge in crime,
and between 2012 and 2017, violent crimes rose by 37% .
42. San Bernardino, California
AP
Photo/Reed Saxon
Of San Bernardino's 216,000
residents, 57% are employed, and 30% live in poverty.
It's 60 miles east of Los
Angeles, and has an interesting history . It's where McDonalds began, as well as the Hells Angels
motorcycle gang. Along with a tough recession, it had a steel plant and an Air
Force base close down, meaning even fewer jobs.
41. Compton, California
Mario
Anzuoni / Reuters
Compton has 96,000 people, 40% of
whom aren't working, and 23% live in poverty.
40. Montebello, California
Frederick
J. Brown / AFP / Getty
Of Montebello's 62,632 people,
60% are working, and 14% live in poverty. The average commute time is 33
minutes, and 19% of people don't have health insurance.
39. Harlingen, Texas
Wikimedia
Harlingen has 65,000 residents;
56% are working, and 30% live in poverty.
38. Reading, Pennsylvania
Michael
Williamson / The Washington Post / Getty
Reading has 88,495 residents,
where almost 62% of people are working, and 36% live in poverty. In 2011, The
New York Times said it was the poorest city in the US .
37. Hallandale Beach, Florida
Wikimedia
Hallandale Beach has about 40,000
people, 60% of whom are working; 20% live in poverty. More than 29% of people
are without health insurance.
Halfway between Miami beach and
Fort Lauderdale, it's been called a "once scruffy beach town," by
the Wall Street Journal. It also has plenty of strip clubs and has been nicknamed
"Hound-ale Beach."
36. Palmdale, California
Anne
Cusack / Los Angeles Times / Getty
Palmdale has 156,667 people — 59%
are in the workforce, and 19% live in poverty.
35. Anderson, Indiana
Wikimedia
Anderson has 55,000 residents,
but lost 2% between 2010 and 2018. Fifty-six percent of people are employed,
and one-quarter live in poverty.
34. Fort Pierce, Florida
Michael
S. Williamson / The Washington Post / Getty
Fort Pierce has 46,000 people,
and grew by almost 10% between 2010 and 2018. Just over half of people there
are employed, and almost 36% of people in poverty.
33. North Miami Beach, Florida
Wikimedia
North Miami Beach has almost
46,000 people; 65% are working, and just under 20% are living in poverty. But
32% of residents don't have healthcare, and the average commute time is 31
minutes.
32. Jackson, Mississippi
Jonathon
Bachman / Reuters
Jackson has almost 165,000
residents, but between 2010 and 2018 it lost more than 5% of its population.
Sixty-two percent of the population is working, and almost 29% live in poverty.
31. Saginaw, Michigan
Wikimedia
Saginaw has 48,000 people, and
between 2010 and 2018 it lost 6% of its population. Fifty-five percent of
people are working and nearly 34% are living in poverty.
Like many other cities on this
list, it used to have a lot of manufacturing jobs — at one point around 25,000 with
General Motors. But they didn't last.
Some locals reportedly refer to
the city as " sag-nasty " because of its issues with crime. In May 2019, violent crime had fallen in the city, with 16 shootings to date, compared to 30 at
that point in 2018.
30. Plainfield, New Jersey
Wikimedia
Plainfield has 50,693 people, 70%
of whom are working, and one-fifth of whom live in poverty. Nearly one-third
are without health insurance, and the median commute time is 31 minutes.
It used to be a violent city — in
1990 there were 719 violent crimes , but since then things have improved, although in 2016 there
were 12 murders.
29. West New York, New Jersey
Eduardo
Munoz / Reuters
West New York has nearly 53,000
people, and it grew by 6.6% between 2010 and 2018. Almost 70% are working, and
22% are living in poverty.
Cleanliness and parking are meant to be two of the biggest issues for its new
mayor. The median commute time is 37 minutes.
28. Miami Gardens, Florida
Joe
Skipper / Reuters
Miami Gardens has 113,000 people
— 60% are working, while about 22% live in poverty.
Another issue in the area is the
cost of water. Because it comes from a plant owned by the City of North Miami
Beach, the cost of living is a little bit higher. In March, the city was suing
to fight the extra 25% surcharge .
27. Cleveland, Ohio
Benjamin
Lowy / Getty
26. Youngstown, Ohio
Brian
Snyder / Reuters
Youngstown has about 65,000
people, and lost 3% of its population between 2010 and 2018. Just over half of
its population is working and nearly 37% of people live in poverty.
25. North Miami, Florida
Carlo
Allegri / Reuters
North Miami has about 63,000
people, 65% of whom are working, while 23% in poverty.
24. Huntington, West Virginia
Lexi
Browning / Reuters
Huntington has 46,000 people, and
it lost 6.4% of its population between 2010 and 2018. Just over half are
working, and about a third live in poverty.
23. Hammond, Indiana
Scott
Olson / Getty
Hammond has about 76,000 people,
and its population fell by 6.2% between 2010 and 2018, Sixty-one
percent of people are in the labor force, and 22% live in poverty.
22. El Monte, California
Wikimedia
El Monte has 115,000 residents;
58% of its population is working, and 22% live in poverty. The average commute
time is a half hour.
The city, which is located near
two freeways and close to Los Angeles, had a lot of revenue coming in from car
dealerships, but struggled during the recession , when three dealerships closed, and the city's tax revenue
fell. It's continued to have issues with finances, and the city is now divided
over the future of marijuana production — one large facility in particular .
21. Lynwood, California
Lawrence
K. Ho / Los Angeles Times / Getty
Lynwood has 70,500 residents —
60% work and 23% are impoverished. It was once called "the best place to
live best." But things didn't stay that way.
The construction of Interstate
105, which cut right through the city , caused many to leave their homes, and 1,000 homes and
businesses to be knocked down. More recently, officials have struggled to manage the city's finances , resulting in losses that could have been used to help the city.
20. Huntsville, Texas
Richard
Carson / Reuters
Huntsville has 41,500 residents;
39% of its people are working, and almost 35% live in poverty. However, the low
employment is in part because those living in prisons are counted in the city's
population.
19. Paterson, New Jersey
Eric
Thayer / Reuters
Paterson has 145,000 residents,
57.5% of its population is working, and 29% live in poverty.
18. Albany, Georgia
Tami
Chappell / Reuters
Nicknamed "the good life
city," Albany has 75,000 people, although its population fell by almost 3%
between 2010 and 2018. Nearly 58% of the population is working, and a third
live in poverty.
17. Trenton, New Jersey
Eduardo
Munoz / Reuters
Trenton has a population of
84,000. Almost 60% of people are working, and 27% are living in poverty.
16. Cicero, Illinois
Scott
Olson / Getty
Cicero has 81,500 residents, but
that fell by 3% between 2010 and 2018. Two-thirds of people are working and
just under 20% live in poverty. The median commute time is 31 minutes.
15. Union City, New Jersey
Eduardo
Munoz / Reuters
Union City has 68,500 residents,
almost 70% are working, while 23% live in poverty. The average commute time is
33 minutes long.
The city is known by some as
"Havana on the Hudson," due to 80% of its residents identifying as
Hispanic, many of whom fled from Cuba. It's only 1.28 square miles, making it
one of the most densely populated areas in
the US.
14. Bell Gardens, California
Allen
J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / Getty
Bell Gardens has 42,300
residents; 63% of people working, and almost 30% are living in poverty.
13. Hialeah, Florida
C. M.
Guerrero / Miami Herald / TNS / Getty
Hialeah has 239,000 residents —
56% of whom are working, while almost 26% live in poverty. Nearly 31% don't
have health insurance.
12. Brownsville, Texas
Sergio
Flores / AFP / Getty
Brownsville has 183,000
residents, 56% of people are working, and more than 31% of people are living in
poverty. More than 35% don't have health insurance.
11. New Brunswick, New Jersey
Wikimedia
10. Huntington Park, California
Allen
J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / Getty
Huntington Park, the 10th most
miserable city in the US, has 58,000 residents, 63% of people are working, and
28% of people live in poverty. The median commute time is 31 minutes.
9. Warren, Ohio
Alan
Freed / Reuters
Warren has 38,000 residents, and
its population fell by 7.7% between 2010 and 2018. About half of people are
working, and two-thirds live in poverty.
8. Camden, New Jersey
Spencer
Platt / Getty
Camden has 74,000 residents, and
its population fell by 4% between 2010 and 2018. Nearly 57% of people are in
the work force, and 37% live in poverty. The average household income is
$26,105 — the lowest on this list.
It used to be a manufacturing
city, but that fell to pieces between the 1950s and 1970s . It's had a high crime rate and been known as one of the most
dangerous cities in the country, but it is improving. In 2017, there were 22
murders, which was the lowest number since 1987 , thanks in part to new police procedures.
7. Flint, Michigan
Rebecca
Cook / Reuters
Flint has 96,000 residents, and
it's fallen by 6% between 2010 and 2018. Just over half of people are working,
and 41% of people are living in poverty — the highest on this list.
6. Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Wikimedia.
Pine Bluff has 42,000 residents,
and between 2010 and 2018, it lost nearly 14% of its population — the biggest
loss on this list. Fifty-two percent of people are working, and 30% are living
in poverty.
5. Newark, New Jersey
Kathy
Willens/AP Photo
Newark has 282,000 residents, 62%
are working, and 28% are living in poverty. The median commute time is over 35
minutes long.
4. Passaic, New Jersey
Mark
Makela / Getty
Passaic has 70,000 residents —
58% of people working, and a third are living in poverty.
3. Detroit, Michigan
Joshua
Lott / Reuters
Detroit has 672,000 people, and
between 2010 and 2018, it lost nearly 6%. While 54% of people are working, 38%
live in poverty. The median household income is $27,838.
2. Port Arthur, Texas
Michael
S. Williamson / The Washington Post / Getty
Port Arthur, a city surrounded by
oil refineries, has 55,000 residents. Fifty-three percent are working and 30%
are living in poverty.
1. Gary, Indiana
Eric
Thayer / Reuters
Gary has 75,000 residents, but
lost 6% between 2010 and 2018. Just over half of the population works, and 36%
live in poverty. The most miserable city in the US was once a manufacturing
mecca, but those days are over.
A drug enforcement agent who grew
up in the area told The Guardian in 2017: "We used to be the murder
capital of the US, but there is hardly anybody left to kill. We used to be the
drug capital of the US, but for that you need money, and there aren't jobs or
things to steal here."
Xavier Becerra breaks the
news, files suit against Trump administration public-charge rule.
August
19, 2019
More than 22 million
people are illegally present in the United States, according to a recent study
by scholars at MIT and Yale . Pew Research pegged the figure at 11 million, and for years
it stood as the official count for media and government. It now emerges that 11
million is more like the number illegally present in California alone.
“California is home to
over 10 million immigrants,” reads a chart displayed by California attorney
general Xavier Becerra and governor Gavin Newsom as they announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s public-charge rule.
“Immigrants,” is California code for “illegals,” a term the state’s ruling class
has banned. As Rachel Bovard notes at American Greatness , even a legal
immigrant’s ability “to stay off the welfare system must be taken into account
when considering qualifications for a green card.”
California heaps welfare
benefits on those illegally present, including nearly $100 million for health care in the recent budget. Many of those 10 million illegals
came to California specifically to get those taxpayer-funded benefits. It
disturbs Becerra and Newsom that this disqualifies the recipients from any
future legal status, but there’s more to it. As attorney Madison Gesiotto explains in The Hill , voting must also be taken
into account.
“Voting as an illegal
alien in federal elections is a crime punishable by fine, imprisonment,
deportation, or inadmissibility.” According to a State Department investigation , false-documented illegals have been voting in federal, state
and local elections for decades. In 1996, illegals cast 784 votes against Republican Robert Dornan in a congressional race
Democrat Loretta Sanchez won by only 984 votes.
If Newsom and Becerra are
certain that more than 10 million people illegally reside in the state, they
doubtless know how many voted in 2016. Trouble is, California Secretary of
State Alex Padilla refused to release any voter information to a federal
voter-fraud probe.
Back in 2015, Padilla
told the Los Angeles Times , “At the latest, for the 2018 election
cycle, I expect millions of new voters on the rolls in the state of
California,” with “new voters” code for ineligible voters. True to form, by
March, 2018, more than one million “undocumented” immigrants received driver’s licenses from the state Department of
Motor Vehicles, which automatically registered them to vote under the “Motor
Voter” program.
Padilla is now claiming
that only six “California residents” were erroneously added to voter rolls for 2018, that it
was all due to DMV errors, and that none was guilty of “fraudulently voting or
attempting to vote.” To paraphrase John Goodman in The Big Lebowski ,
this is what happens when the governor’s own department of finance, not the
official state auditor, investigates the DMV.
In reality, California
officials know full well how many non-citizens voted in 2016 and 2018. With
more than 10 million illegals in the state, the ballpark figure of one million
illegal voters is probably low. In California, illegals are the Democrats’
electoral college, and the Democrats reward them with welfare benefits and
protection from deportation through sanctuary laws. This raises another issue.
Illegals’ use of welfare
benefits and practice of voting in federal elections disqualifies them from
legal residency and citizenship. This makes for a permanent group of more than
10 million foreign nationals in California alone. In these conditions, Congress
should start pushing back.
Public officials who
apportion taxpayer-funded benefits for foreign nationals should be required to
register as agents of the governments of those foreign nationals. The primary
candidates would be the governments of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El
Salvador, which Gavin Newsom visited before he had even toured his own state.
State and federal
governments should also bill the foreign governments for welfare, medical,
education and incarceration costs. Some of this could be alleviated by a
tax on remissions, such as the 33.4 billion Mexicans
abroad sent back last year. That amount is impossible without massive
inputs from U.S. taxpayers. Legitimate citizens and legal immigrants have no
obligation to relieve foreign governments of responsibility for their own
citizens.
Meanwhile, as Rachel
Bovard also notes, the Trump administration’s new rule only updates a 1996 law
proclaiming “inadmissible” those aliens likely to become a public charge. The
law was supported by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden and other leading
Democrats. The Trump administration measure gives more definition to what
constitutes a welfare benefit, food stamps, Medicaid, public housing assistance
and such. Those benefits are all for legitimate citizens and legal immigrants
but Bovard cites Census data showing that 63 percent of non-citizens use the
welfare system.
Those who thought there
were only 11 million illegals nationwide were mistaken. Thanks to Jerry Brown
crony Gavin Newsom, and Xavier Becerra, once on Hillary Clinton’s short list as
a running mate, Americans now understand that “more than 10 million” illegally
reside in California alone, and that might understate the figure.
The MIT-Yale estimate
ranges as high as 29.1 million nationwide, more than the population of Australia, with 25,088,636 and a veritable occupation. To all but the willfully
blind, politicians have abandoned the rule of law, and made false-documented
illegals a protected, privileged class.
This is how a nation
loses its sovereignty.
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